Rep. John Lewis is leading a sit-in on the house floor for a vote on gun legislation. Dems are using social media to document their protest.USA TODAY

This image courtesy of Democratic Rep. Elizabeth Esty’s office shows Rep. Esty with Rep. John Lewis and other members of Congress staging a sit-in on the floor of the House on June 22, 2016.(Photo: HANDOUT, AFP/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON â Democratic lawmakers launched an extraordinary protest Wednesday,Â stagingÂ a sit-in on the House floor, bringing legislativeÂ business to a haltÂ to highlight theirÂ demand for aÂ vote on gun control legislation. But Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said the dramaticÂ protest was simply a “publicity stunt.”

ScoresÂ of House lawmakers took to the House floor before noon and refused to let Republicans resume regular business until the House votes on gun control.Â They took turns for hours talking about gun violence, ticking off mass shootings inÂ Â Newtown, Conn.,Â Charleston, S.C., San Bernardino,Â Calif., andÂ Orlando, Fla., where Omar Mateen slaughtered 49 people and injured 53 others June 12.

âWhat is the tipping point? Are we blind?Â Can we see? How many more mothers, how many more fathers need to shed tears of grief before we do something?” exclaimed Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., who kicked off the sit-in. “We have been too quiet for too long. There comes a time when you have to say something, when you have to make a little noise, when you have to move your feet. This is the time. Now is the time to get in the way. The time to act is now. We will be silent no more.”

Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, attempted to gavel the House into order at noon, but when the Democrats refused to quiet, he gaveled the House into recess instead.

House Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., suggested early on that could be a marathon recess, and Democrats continued to hold the floor long into the evening.

“Our people deserve to know where their representatives stand on this issue, just as they now do with their senators,” HoyerÂ said.Â “Led by civil rights hero Rep. John Lewis, we will be sitting-in until the House is allowed an opportunity to vote.Â This is an issue that ought to transcend party â it’s about saving lives and keeping our communities safe.”

More than sixÂ hours after the sit-in began, Ryan said on CNN he would not schedule a vote on bills that have already been defeated in the Senate. “This is a publicity stunt,” Ryan said. “This isn’t trying to come up with a solution to a problem. This is trying to get attention.”

Senators on Monday voted down four partisan gun measures and were trying to craft a compromise Wednesday that would make it harder for people on terrorist watch lists to get guns.

Other House Republicans wereÂ lessÂ restrained in their response.Â They have opposed legislation toughening gun laws because they say the measures would infringe on Americans’ rights to bear arms and to due process.

“Calling this a sit-in is a disgrace to Woolworth’s. They sat-in for rights,” Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., tweeted in aÂ reference toÂ black civil rights activists who refused to leave the store’s lunch counter when they had been refused service in 1960.Â “Dems are ‘sitting-in’Â to strip them away.”

This screen shot from C-SPAN video shows Democrats sitting on the chamber floor just before the session was gaveled to a close and the cameras were turned off. (Photo: Screenshot)

Most of the House demonstration, unlike last week’s filibuster in the Senate that led to the votes Monday, was not broadcast on C-SPAN. The network carries feeds fromÂ cameras belonging to the House, which are controlled by the majority party and turned off when the House is not in session. Instead, C-SPAN aired video feeds being posted by Democrats from the floor via their social media accounts.

Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., accusedÂ Republican leadership of not allowing the broadcast, although it is longstanding policy not to show the House floor when the chamber is in recess.

âThe fact is they can cut off the mics, they can cut off the cameras, they will not silence our voice,â he said as the sit-in approached four hours.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn, who led the nearly 15-hour filibuster in the Senate, went over to the House floor to show his support.

âThis is an extraordinary tactic,â he said as he headed into the chamber shortly after noon. But, he added, âThis is an exceptional time.â

The sit-in was extraordinary, but it was not the first time lawmakers had staged a protest after the cameras were turned off. In 2008, Republicans demanded a vote on oil drilling, but the Democratic majority under then-speakerÂ Pelosi voted to adjourn and turned off the lights. Republicans came to the emptyÂ House chamber for days to make speeches about oil production and rail against what they said was unfair treatment by Democrats.

Over at the White House on Wednesday, press secretary Josh EarnestÂ said House Democrats are âare showing the kind of frustration and even anger that people around the country have.â

âWhat Democrats are asking for is neither radical nor controversial,â he said, citing polls showing that expanded background checks are favored by large majorities of people, including gun owners.

President Obama tweeted thanks to Lewis for “leading on gun violence where we need it most.”